BEFORE BECOMING “KHONG DEE PAK THAI”: THE FORMATION AND ORIGINS OF BEING SOUTHERN IDENTITY IN THE NATION STATE AND THAINESS CONTEXT, 1910S - 1960S

Abstract

This research article aims to study, understand, and present the formation and origins of the emotions and identity of the people of Southern Thailand during the 1910s - 1960s, as presented by local scholars/intellectuals. This study analyzes and interprets the lives, works, and roles of key local scholars/intellectuals who played significant roles in the southern provinces within the context of national and Thai identity during the 1910s - 1960s, in conjunction with other contemporary historical documents, through historical research methodology. The research findings and discussion based on Barbara Rosenwein's concept of Emotional Communities. The research found that the establishment of emotions and models of Southern Thai identity by Professor Suthiwong Phongphaiboon, as presented in the Encyclopedia of Southern Thai Culture (Thailand) since the 1980s, did not occur haphazardly. However, it is a consequence of the lives, works, and roles of local scholars/intellectuals in the context of nation-building and Thai identity construction during the 1910s - 1960s that contributed to the shaping and served as the foundation for the creation of the Southern Thai identity. In particular, the studies of local history and literature from local scholars, as well as the role of local intellectuals in their interactions with the modern bureaucratic state. As well as through expressions in specific dialects or southern Thai dialects, which have taken shape as a local identity closely related to the nation and Thai identity. Subsequently, these feelings influenced Professor Suthiwong Pongpaiboon in producing academic works that emphasized folklore and local culture in Southern Thailand. Since his work “Khong dee pak thai” and continuously producing other works since the 1960s